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How to use power mapping in your community to influence planning
This tool can help you achieve your campaigning goals by identifying the best people to influence.
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Want to protect local wildlife that’s threatened by a new development application in your community? We’ve put together a series of How to guides to help you set up and run a campaign against a development threat, big or small. In this guide we explore power mapping, a technique you can use to identify individuals or groups who could influence the outcome.
What is power mapping?
Power mapping is a tool you can use to help your campaign group understand who has the power to help or hinder your campaign. When thinking about your campaign issue, it’s useful to think about who else has a stake in that issue, whether that’s because they agree with you or because they oppose what you want to achieve. Then it’s also important to think about how much power these people have.
How does it work?
To get started, grab a piece of paper, and draw a large vertical line down the middle. Next, draw a horizontal line across the middle of that line, creating a grid. The vertical line represents how much power and influence people have over your issue. The horizontal line represents whether they support or oppose your campaign’s position:
Now that you have your power map, think about everyone in your community who has an interest in your issue, and where they would sit on your map. Do they support or oppose your campaign mission? How much influence do they hold over others?
This could include:
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Local community groups
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Politicians
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Local businesses
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Recreation groups
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Faith groups
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Local wildlife societies or ‘Friends of’ groups
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Parents
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Residents’ associations
Feel free to add any others you can think of. Once you have your list, start to place them on the map based on their position and influence. The more or less influential or supportive they are can be shown by putting them further out towards the edge, or closer to the centre of the grid.
The top right box shows people who are influential and supportive of your campaign. These are key targets for you to speak to.
The top left box shows people who are influential but opposed to your campaign. Think about why these people oppose you, how you can counter their arguments and maybe even change their mind.
The bottom right box shows people who are supportive but don’t have much influence. You want to reach these people with your campaign’s key message so they can amplify it in their own networks and maybe get involved.
The bottom left box shows people who are opposed and do not have much influence. These people are not targets for your campaign, but it may still be useful to understand why they oppose your campaign when developing your arguments.
Once you’ve mapped your stakeholders, it should be clear who you need to contact to advance your campaign, and whose actions you need to take into account if you're going to be successful in your goals.
